The number of last-minute flight cancellations in June was almost triple that of the same month in 2019, new data from Cirium reveals.
Total last-minute flight cancellations from 28 UK airports during June rose to 3,833, compared to only 1,332 in the same month in 2019. Last-minute is defined as within 72 hours of departure.
The increase came despite a 23% fall year on year in the number of flights, with 2.5% of the 153,164 departures from UK airports cancelled last month, compared to only 0.67% of the 198,379 in 2019.
Cirium said Southampton airport recorded the most last-minute cancellations last month, with 6.4%. London City airport was the second most affected, with 6.2% axed, followed by Bristol, with 4.8%.
Although Gatwick and Heathrow saw the highest number of actual last-minute cancellations, they only accounted for 3.9% and 2.2% of scheduled flights respectively because of their higher traffic volumes.
Bournemouth and Guernsey airport were two of the best performers, with zero last- minute cancellations during the month.
Cirium also examined airport delays and found these had increased 71% in June 2022 compared to June 2019. Departures from Gatwick recorded the longest delays, averaging 34 minutes. Bristol was second at 30 minutes, followed by Edinburgh (26 mins), Heathrow (25 mins) and Glasgow (21 mins).
At the other end of the scale, Land’s End and the Isles of Scilly airport recorded no delays and Southampton only an average one minute.
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